The Starting Point....

Some people think that going into stock market is very risky, so they rather keep their money in the bank. I would think investing in the stock market with an analogy of driving a car.

If you don't know how to drive, and yet you go into the car, start the engine and go, that's considered as a risky action. However, if you know how to drive, how to properly control the car, then driving a car won't be considered as a risky action. The more you know, the safer you are when you driving on the road. The same goes to the investment in stock market. Just like the investment guru, Warren Buffett said, "Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing".

So, getting up-to-date with the latest information in the financial market is very important to the investors. Knowing the latest news might not be enough; one of the most valuable skillset of the investors is to know the impact of the latest news. For me, I started off reading the online news from http://www.cnbc.com/, http://www.bloomberg.com/. These sites provides the latest news in the financial market around the world as well as some analysis of the current state of market. The sites also have live streaming video when the stock market is open.

Besides that, I also goes on to buy some magazines and newspapers. Here are the list of magazines and newspapers.

Magazines:

• Smart Investor - Monthly
• Pulses - Monthly
• FundSuperMart - Quarterly
• iFAST Insight - Quarterly

Newspapers:

• The Business Times - Daily, except Saturday, Sunday
• The Business Times Weekend - Weekly, available on Saturday
• The EDGE - Weekly, available on Sunday

As you can see, magazines will not provide you the latest news of the market. But the magazines do offer a lot of personal investment guides and information, like "How to invest in GOLD?", introduction of various financial product, insights into corporation strategies, direction of the economy, interview of some experienced investors and traders, and etc.
As for start, I would recommend to begin visitting the websites frequently, take note of the news and comments from

• Ben Bernanke - Chairman of US Federal Reserve
• Alan Greenspan - Former Chairman of US Federal Reserve
• Timothy Geithner - US Secretary of the Treasury
• Paul Krugman - Nobel winner in Economic, 2008

Besides that, The Business Times Weekend and The Edge are the good starting point for new investors. You can also visit http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/ daily after 6pm to read the articles that published in the Print Edition (is free....) As for magazine, you can go for the FundSuperMart magazine.
Lastly, if you are really serious into investment (not speculation), this book is a must in your book collection. The book title is The Intelligent Investor, by Benjamin Graham, and collaborated with Warren Buffett. This book will introduce you "What do we mean by Investor ?"... The details of the book can be found in the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/Intelligent-Investor-Definitive-Investing-Practical/dp/0060555661/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1244137499&sr=8-1